Crows in a churchyard are a sign of bad luck 

Birds have been associated with myths and omens since early mankind with many ancient people believing our feathered friends to be messengers from the gods or even representations of the gods themselves.

Today most cultures throughout the world have superstitions that are centred around birds – some of these are universal while others are regional and it seems nobody can agree on whether birds bring good or bad luck.

Here we take a look at some of the world’s most popular bird superstitions. If you know of any others, let us know in the comments below.

In fact seeing crows anywhere tends to bring bad luck, unless you happen to find a dead crow in the road, which surprisingly will bring you good luck.

Running second only to black cats, crows have a very bad press when it comes to omens. In just about any creepy scene in a film you will hear the background noise of crows calling and of course Alfred Hitchcock made a whole film about what happens when these birds attack. A particularly suspenseful scene in The Birds is of a murder of crows gathering quietly in a playground behind an oblivious Tippi Hedren.

As far back as Ancient Greece, it was believed that the arrival of a crow at a wedding reception would mean an inevitable divorce. And another crow superstition associated with marriage is that two crows should be released during the ceremony; if the two birds flew away together the marriage would be happy and successful, but if the two crows parted company then the bride and groom too would soon be separated.

A bird pooing on your head brings good luck

Although it will probably result in the worst bad hair day ever, you shouldn’t fret if you have the misfortune to have a bird deposit its droppings on your head or shoulders because this unfortunate event is actually supposed to bring good luck and even wealth.

There isn’t a consensus on the origin of this superstition, but one idea put forward is that it is such an unlikely, yet disgusting occurrence that it is only right that something positive makes up for it.